If you had a few extra hours every day, how would you spend them? Considering that I’m a closet bookworm, I’d probably spend part of them reading.
For most of us, taking time to read seems more like a luxury than a necessity, but keeping up with the latest in your industry and knowing what your competition is doing, is an important factor in moving your business forward.
While you can’t add more hours to your day, there are a few ways to make a dent in your reading pile.
1. Sort through your books
As you look through your books, give away the ones you’ve had for years and will never look at again. You could make a few extra dollars by selling your books to bookstores that sell used books. In most cases, any books they don’t buy, they’ll donate to charity. An interesting online option, BookMooch, is a point-based bartering system. You type in the books you want to give away, receive requests from others for your books, mail your books and get points, and then use your points to get books from others.
2. Designate certain places for magazines, reference materials and anything else you want to read
Stacking bins work well for magazines and papers to file (they’re larger than stacking trays). Keep them next to or under your desk and label them “to read” and “to file.”
3. Reduce your reading stacks
Start by getting rid of the newspapers and magazines you haven’t read for the past year. If you haven’t read them by now, chances are you won’t read them anytime soon. Consider switching to online subscriptions.
4. Read e-books
One of the best ways to organize books and save space storing books is by trading traditional books for e-books. Think about the number of e-books you could take with you when you leave your home office.
The best way to get your reading under control is to realize that you can’t read everything. But by taking a few simple steps, you can get your reading under control.
How do you get through your reading wish list? Please share your comments below.
Great article Lisa! I could definitely use a trip to the bookstore and sell some of my collection, so this article will be put to great use. Just over the last four years alone I have collected my fair share of books, magazines, booklets, and newspapers, that have found a special place in the guest bedroom. Luckily, there hasn’t been many guest. I’m nowhere close to being a hoarder just yet, but I could certainly use these fabulous tips. So thank you for sharing them.
Thanks, Deeone. You’re definitely not a hoarder…maybe just a collector like everyone else. There’s something difficult about getting rid of books. It’s just not that easy. Every year or two, I take books to Half Price Books (usually they’re books my sons have outgrown) and what they don’t buy from me, they donate to a charity. It seems to be a win/win for everyone.
Great advice, Lisa.
My rule has been for every new book i acquire, one has to be retired. As it is, I have some 20 or 25 bookcases laden with tomes- from novels to management to medicine to microbiology to chemistry to water… Oh, you get the idea.
Reading is fundamental. But, so it having free access to your home. Don’t let your book collections control your life.
You could start your own library, Roy!
It’s amazing how quickly a book collection can grow, but you seem to have your books under control. I like your one book in, one book out idea. Thanks for your comment.
Great post! I need help with my stack of books, magazines and anything else I find! I have so many pages open in my browser, that I have to arrow over to get to them!
Do you use a kindle or Nook?
Happy Reading!
Thank, Pam. These tips should help you purge books and magazines. It takes time, but it’s worth it. I use the Kindle app on my iPad and my iPhone.
These are great suggestions. I read a lot both for fun and for work. I try to keep my work articles in pdf format on my computer. The books I read for fun I have started swapping on swap.com. You make a list of books you want and books you have and the website matches you up. You send your book and get a book back you want. So my book collection never really increases unless it is a book I want to read over and over… I do a periodic purge of written material at home and work too.
I like your suggestions too, especially Swap.com. I’ll check it out. Purging written material can be very freeing, especially when they’re papers you’ll never refer to again. Thanks for your comment.